Tully Rinckey PLLC announced last week that its founding partner, Mathew Tully, was awarded the Purple Heart on August 20th for wounds he sustained in a suicide bombing attempt while serving in Afghanistan. Mr. Tully is also a frequent author here on FedSmith.com.

New York Army National Guard Lt. Col. Mathew B. Tully has temporarily stepped down from his chief executive role at the Tully Rinckey PLLC firm while recovering from his injuries, but he is expected to return to his leadership role at the firm in spring 2013. Since founding Tully Rinckey PLLC in 2003, Mr. Tully has thrice temporarily left his service at the law firm for deployments in Iraq, Egypt, and Afghanistan.

Mr. Tully sustained his injuries on Aug. 7 when a suicide bomber, using a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), attempted to kill him and others from his unit. Fortunately, no U.S. service members were killed in this attack near the village of Pul-I-Alam in Logar Province, Afghanistan. This episode followed another incident in which Mr. Tully’s life was threatened in Afghanistan. Last May, he received the Combat Action Badge for his involvement in an incident in which hostile forces, armed with AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, attacked him. He was not injured in this earlier attack.

“Mat is one of thousands of Purple Heart recipients who were injured in Afghanistan, and we are thankful for each and every sacrifice they made for their country,” said Managing Partner Greg T. Rinckey, who is another Army veteran who served for six years with the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps.

The Purple Heart, the U.S. military’s oldest decoration still awarded, is given to service members who sustained combat-related injuries. Between Dec. 5, 2001 and June 30, 2012, 7,272 service members involved in the war in Afghanistan, formally referred to as Operation Enduring Freedom, have received the Purple Heart, according to the U.S. Army Human Resources Command.